Twitter’s expanding media sharing was in need of a good update for visually impaired users. Now, the Social Media platform has implemented an Alt Text description to any image posted, so it can be accessed by screen readers.
Twitter’s 320 million monthly active users will be able to add alternative texts to each and every image they post from their iOS or Android app, enabling the visually impaired to experience them through assistive technology. They simply have to enable the feature from Twitter’s accessibility settings, then tap the “add description” button next to the thumbnail of the image they want to send and write a maximum of 420 characters.
“With this update, we’re empowering everyone to ensure content shared on Twitter is accessible to the widest possible audience”
The best thing is the feature is open to developers and publishers, too, the ones who, let’s face it, will use it most. While most users will forget to add text to their photos from time to time, publishers are interested in attracting more audience from Twitter, thus adding Alt Text often. Moreover, descriptions of photos help search engines find them easily, another benefit companies are aware of. Even retweeted, the image will retain the description.
Follow TechTheLead on Google News to get the news first.
